Wednesday 29 March 2006
By NIGEL ADLAM and ROWAN CALLICK, NT News

THE Territory's uranium mining industry is expected to boom after Chinese companies are given the go-ahead to explore in Australia.

Premier Wen Jiabao will sign two breakthrough agreements in Canberra on Saturday.

China, the world's fastest growing economy, wants to cut its dependence on coal-fired power stations from 70 per cent to less than half within 15 years.

The country has nine nuclear power stations, is building two more and is planning to build many others.

The agreements will open a massive new market for our resources.

But to take full advantage of the opportunity the Labor States would have to join Canberra and lift the party's three-mines policy.

This says Australia should have only Ranger, Olympic Dam and the defunct Narbalek mines.

The Territory Government supports Labor's policy but this is irrelevant in many ways because the ultimate power to allow uranium mining rests with the Federal Government.

The NT Government controls exploration permits but explorers apply for a general base minerals licence rather than a specific uranium licence.

The Territory has about 18 per cent of the world's known uranium reserves.

Ranger at Jabiru, 220km east of Darwin, is Australia's biggest.